Barbara Dickson | Biography The show was a huge success and after a sell-out Liverpool season it transferred to London’s West End. After seeing Barbara’s performance in the show, impresario Robert Stigwood, the head of RSO Records, signed her to his label. Her first hit single, ‘Answer Me’, was released early in 1976 and a guest residency on the BBC’s hugely successful ‘The Two Ronnies’ show later that year brought Barbara into the homes of more than 15 million viewers on Saturday evenings. ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall’, her second hit, followed in 1977 when Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber invited Barbara to sing on the original cast recording of their new musical ‘Evita’. A move to the CBS (now Sony) record label brought Barbara further hit singles including ‘Caravans’ and ‘January, February’ and ‘The Barbara Dickson Album’ in 1980 provided her with her first gold album. By 1982, regular TV appearances and sold-out tours had cemented her status as one of the UK’s most popular female vocalists.

Her ‘All For a Song’ album that year was certified platinum and went on to spend almost a year on the album chart. A return to the theatre in Willy Russell’s new musical, ‘Blood Brothers,’ in 1983 was to mark Barbara’s debut as a stage actress. As with ‘John Paul George Ringo… and Bert’ nine years previously, the show transferred from Liverpool to London and in the process earned her the ‘Best Actress in a Musical’ award from the Society of West End Theatres. In 1985 Barbara’s single ‘I Know Him So Well,’ recorded with Elaine Paige and taken from the musical ‘Chess’, was released. It reached Number One in the UK and went on to become a Top Ten hit around the world, eventually selling over 900,000 copies. Further hits followed, but in the early 1990’s Barbara began to move away from pop and back towards her roots in folk and acoustic music.

Her 1992 collection of Bob Dylan songs, ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right,’ was followed by the albums ‘Parcel of Rogues’ and ‘Dark End of the Street’, which combined traditional music with tracks by some of Barbara’s favourite songwriters, including Randy Newman, Sandy Denny and Jackson Browne. The ‘90’s also saw Barbara beginning to diversify more into acting, with major roles on TV including ‘Taggart’, Kay Mellor’s ‘Band of Gold’ and ‘The Missing Postman’. On stage, ‘The Seven Ages of Woman’ won Barbara the 1997 Liverpool Echo ‘Best Actress in Theatre’ Award and in 2000 she won her second Olivier award for her role as the infamous 1960’s pools winner, Viv Nicholson, in the musical ‘Spend Spend Spend’. She was awarded an OBE from Her Majesty the Queen in 2002 for Services to Music and Drama. In 2004 Barbara released her first studio album for nine years, ‘Full Circle’, produced and arranged by Troy Donockley.

It was widely acclaimed as a long-awaited return to her musical roots, with the Daily Telegraph noting: “it is no exaggeration to describe Barbara as a great singer. She stood out a mile among the Scottish folk singers of her generation, and she has consistently shown her class when performing for a wider public. This is Dickson at her most engaging.” Having established a successful working partnership with Troy Donockley, Barbara has gone on to record several albums with him in recent years, further exploring the music of the British Isles which she loves as well as selections from her ‘shirt box’ that she has always wanted to record. Barbara’s autobiography, ‘A Shirt Box Full of Songs,’ was published in 2009. She has presented several radio series for BBC Radio Scotland in recent years exploring folk and roots music, and has performed at and co-presented the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Barbara was bestowed with a lifetime achievement ‘Tartan Clef’ award by Nordoff Robbins in 2012 and in 2016 was honoured to receive the Variety Club of Scotland Outstanding Scottish Achievement award.

Barbara continues to tour the UK with her full band as well as playing more intimate acoustic shows and festivals alongside her long-time keyboard player, Nick Holland. At the end of 2015 they performed several dates across Ireland and such was the success of these that a further tour is planned for November 2016. Barbara has also been invited to return to the USA in September of this year to perform live at the Celtic Big Stone Gap Festival in West Virginia. A new album is currently in the early planning stages and a major UK tour is also scheduled for early 2017. Following a recent move back to Scotland, Barbara now lives in Edinburgh with her husband, Oliver, and a floating population of three sons, Colm, Gabriel and Archie. She is an Ambassador for Alzheimer's Awareness and Patron of both ‘Headway Fife’ and the Fife Society for the Blind. Whilst Barbara remains modest about her many achievements, with seventeen Platinum and Gold albums to her name she remains Scotland’s biggest-selling female singer of all time.

Aly Bain, the great folk musician, has described her as having the best female voice ever to come out of Scotland whilst Billy Connolly says “from the very first time I heard her, her voice just nailed me to the wall. She’s just a one-off.” Barbara is quick to dismiss this politely as pure opinion, but the accolades she has received over the years undoubtedly recognise that she has been touched with a gift that is of great importance to her and, more importantly, to her audience. “Singing is not,” she says, “about technique but what is in your heart. That is the secret”. As a multi-million selling recording artist with an equally impressive Olivier Award winning acting career, Barbara Dickson OBE has firmly established herself as one of the most enduring and popular artistes in Britain today. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, Barbara’s love of music was evident from an early age – she began studying piano at the age of five and by twelve had also taken up the guitar. She developed an interest in folk music whilst at school which led to floor spots singing at her local folk club.

After relocating to Edinburgh, she went on to combine a day job in the Civil Service whilst steadily pursuing her first love, music, in local pubs and clubs. The watershed moment came in 1968 when, after being refused leave from her job for an overseas singing engagement, Barbara resigned, determined to pursue a career for herself in the burgeoning folk scene of the late ‘60’s. The next few years saw her gradually ‘paying her dues’ on the Scottish and English folk circuit, steadily building a reputation and working with the likes of Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty, Rab Noakes and Archie Fisher. Early folk albums, which she recorded for Trailer and Decca Records, were well received. Barbara readily admits that she would have been happy to continue her life as a travelling folk musician, but a meeting with an old friend, musician and playwright Willy Russell, in Liverpool in the early 70s was to change the course of her career completely. Willy offered Barbara the role of the musician/ singer in his 1974 Beatles’ musical ‘John, Paul, George, Ringo… and Bert’, staged at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre.

She was on stage throughout the entire performance singing the songs of The Beatles alongside a cast which included Antony Sher, Bernard Hill and Trevor Eve. Barbara Dickson: 'You shouldn't be touched by men you don't like but in the 70s it was playful not abuse' - Mirror Online Celebs Barbara Dickson: 'You shouldn't be touched by men you don't like but in the 70s it was playful not abuse' The singer, who has been in the spotlight for five decades, believes there are sex abuse cases that have been inappropriately taken through the courts Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email She may be a notoriously no- nonsense woman who loathed Seventies misogyny. But when it comes to some of the high-profile men accused of historic sex abuse, Barbara Dickson is surprisingly forgiving. The singer and actress, who launched her career 50 years ago in an era when women routinely fell victim to propositions and groping, says: “Women just raised their eyebrows when things like that went on.

It was a part of life.” And, although she supports the prosecution of the worst sex offenders , 67-year-old Barbara believes less serious abuse allegations should be viewed in that context. Far from being a black and white issue, she feels some cases are in a “grey” area. She says: “There are probably a lot of cases which are inappropriately brought to court. There was a climate of ‘playful behaviour’ on the part of men which women, even at that time, would not have approved of. “Most women have experienced that – but they have not experienced serious abuse of any sort. It was the Seventies. It was a different world then. “There was no political correctness and there was lots of inappropriate behaviour. I used to be very angry with unwanted advances, all my life, from anybody. Singing legend: Barbara Dickson in 1981 (Photo: Mirrorpix) “Most women would say that you don’t want to be touched up by somebody you don’t like – it’s revolting.

“Men thought that was playful, but it wasn’t meant to be nasty.” Barbara, best known for 1985 hit I Know Him So Well, adds that prosecutors need to think very carefully before bringing cases to court as “mud sticks” even if the allegations are proved false. She says: “It can ruin a person’s reputation, in some cases that would perhaps be deserved, but it depends entirely. "It isn’t appropriate for someone’s reputation to be ruined for doing nothing, or being falsely accused.” Barbara adds that some women are more easily offended than others, saying: “It depends what offends. It’s in the eye of the beholder. "If you’re offended by somebody winking at you then you are going to feel, ‘What’s he winking at me for? I don’t know him!’ and get upset. “Now the law has changed, so if people feel they’re within the law and they want to bring somebody down who is well known because of the way they feel they were treated, then it’s up to the Crown Prosecution Service.” What’s more, Barbara also believes some women were well aware of their ability to use the casting couch to make powerful men feel obliged to them.

She says: “Some women have always felt that to get attention they’ve got to attract that sort of man. "Somebody of my mother’s age would know there’s no such thing as a free lunch as far as that’s concerned – and she would have always warned me.” Strong woman: Barbara Dickson Her controversial comments may surprise some, but Barbara has never been one to mince her words. Raised in Dunfermline, she was born to a Scottish father and Liverpudlian mother. Neither worked in entertainment, but they did encourage her to play musical ­instruments from an early age. She fell in love with folk music and in 1964, at just 16, she was playing her local pubs and clubs. Six years later she landed a recording deal, before getting a plum role in Willy Russell’s 1974 Beatles musical John, Paul, George, Ringo… and Bert. The part helped her get noticed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who, in 1977, invited her to record Another Suitcase in Another Hall, from their new musical Evita.

Soon she was performing on Top of The Pops and landed herself a series of performances on The Two Ronnies. Although both were BBC shows, Barbara is adamant that she never saw any of the sexually inappropriate behaviour now linked with the corporation thanks to Jimmy Savile. She says: “I’m not aware of anybody behaving inappropriately at the BBC at all.” She went on to have her biggest solo hit, January February, in 1980, before reuniting with Willy Russell in 1982, when she played the female lead in his hugely successful musical Blood Brothers. In 1985, her duet with fellow West End star Elaine Paige on I Know Him So Well – by Tim Rice and Abba’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus – was at No1 for four weeks. But for Barbara it seems like 100 years have passed since then. She says: “It feels a very long time ago. It’s as if it happened in a different life. But it’s fine. It was a really nice song.

I got to sing on an Abba song and that’s fair enough.” 50 years of fame: Tim Rice, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Barbara Dickson and Elaine Page pictured at the presentation of a silver disc for their No.1 hit "I know Him So Well". 7th February 1985 (Photo: Mirrorpix) Hardly a ringing endorsement, but she insists she hasn’t tried to distance herself from it, despite not including it in her new upcoming tour. She says: “It’s a milestone in my life. Because it happened in 1985 I don’t look back. I do pick songs I can now sing that I sang a long time ago. "But I Know Him So Well doesn’t really fit the remit. It’s a duet in any case, and its not my song. It’s a kind of karaoke classic now, and that’s fair enough. "If people love it and they like the original recording then that’s great. “I am sure Elaine would like to hear that as well.” So, when did Barbara last see Elaine , then? “It’s years now. Years.” she says.

“We have that great past history but, you know, I live a long way away from London and I don’t really see my London friends very often. Very, very rarely.” It’s a response which doesn’t exactly quash rumours that Barbara and Elaine, 66, aren’t the best of friends. But, just to be clear, she responds to the gossip head-on. “That’s absolutely stupid,” she says, her voice rising at the mere suggestion. “We’ve always had the utmost respect for each other and we like each other very much. She’s a lovely girl.” Barbara is far too busy in her own life to look backwards. She’s still married to BBC assistant director Oliver Cookson – the father of her three children – who she met back in the Eighties. They are currently moving to Edinburgh after years living in Lincolnshire. In recent years, Barbara has focused all her energies on folk music, the path she started out on 50 years ago. She has just embarked on a lengthy UK tour showcasing her latest material alongside old classics. She says: “In a way I never really left folk music, even during the time that I was a pop star. Now I have control over my work, which I really like.

“Being in my 60s doesn’t pose any problems at all. In fact, I play piano and guitar better than ever and I sing better than I have ever sung. “And I don’t have to please anybody except myself now.” Barbara Dickson’s tour continues tonight at The Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare. See . Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent Most Read Most Recent Number 1 today in 1985: Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson 05 February 2015 Number 1 today in 1985: Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson Two legendary divas team up to score their very first Number 1 with this Abba-connected classic ballad. Google + You can’t beat a female duet, and they didn’t come much bigger and iconic than this team-up of two of the UK’s most talented singers and actresses. Years before Brandy & Monica had an icy ruck over their no-good unfaithful boyfriend, Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson were passive-aggressively sparring it out with this classic track taken from the musical Chess, co-written by legendary West End supremo Tim Rice and… none other than Bjorn and Benny from Abba. Oh yes.

And you can totally tell. This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill scrap over a lover – this duet, packed with high drama, saw the ladies singing more about their own situation rather than the feckless geezer they had in common. I Know Him So Well was one of those tracks that becomes a hit without anyone really expecting it. It entered in the lower reaches of the Top 40 before rocketing into the Top 10 and climbing to become a shock Number 1, no doubt soundtracking millions of post-New year breakups across the country. I Know Him So Well stayed at Number 1 for four weeks, and gave the ladies their first and only chart-topper and a final Top 10. It was Barbara’s fourth visit to the Top 40 – her first hit was Answer Me in 1976, which reached Number 9. It was only Elaine’s second Top 40; her first ever hit was Memory in 1981. I Know Him So Well has been covered by many artists, including Idina Menzel, Whitney Houston, John Barrowman and Spice Girls Mel C and Emma Bunton, but it’s only returned to the charts twice.

Steps got to Number 5 as a double-A side with Words Are Not Enough in 2001. More recently, comedian Peter Kay, as alter ego Geraldine McQueen, teamed up with Susan Boyle for a Comic Relief version, taking the song to Number 11 in 2011. Elaine and Barbara’s version is the big one, however – it’s sold over 928,000 copies. Will it be a million-seller one day? That’s all up to you, of course; you’re the ones who buy the songs! So what else was going on while Elaine and Barbara reigned supreme? Let’s have a look… 2: King – Love And Pride A debut hit and highest chart peak for Paul King and his band, who would go on to have four more Top 10 hits. The song had originally missed the Top 40 on first release in 1984, but thankfully 1985 was kinder to King and Love And Pride became the first of two top 10s for the group.

3: Foreigner – I Want To Know What Love Is It was fourth time lucky for Foreigner – this track was their fourth Top 40 hit and their first Number 1, spending three weeks at the top in early 1985, until Elaine and Barbara chucked them off. Mariah Carey would go on to have a hit with a cover of this track, taking it to Number 19 in 2009. 4: Ashford & Simpson – Solid The only UK Top 40 hit for legendary songwriters – and husband and wife Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The geniuses behind classics like Diana Ross’s Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Chaka Khan’s I’m Every Woman decided it was their time to shine, and shine they did – all the way to an eventual peak of Number 3. 5: Prince – 1999/Little Red Corvette His Purpleness scored a chart peak of Number 2 with this double A-side (ask your mum), a feat that he wouldn’t beat until nine years later with his Number 1 The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.

6: Bruce Springsteen – Dancing In The Dark 7: Russ Abbot – Atmosphere 8: Tears For Fears – Shout 9: Strawberry Switchblade – Since Yesterday 10: Art Of Noise – Close (To The Edit) > See full Top 40 from this week in 1985 This time last year… It was a second week at the top for Clean Bandit FT Jess Glynne with Rather Be. See the full Top 40 for new entries from Katy B, will.i.am, Gorgon City FT MNEK and Chris Malinchak – plus an unexpected return to the Top 40 for Weather Girls’ It’s Raining Men. Barbara Dickson - Biography - IMDb Barbara Dickson Jump to: Overview (1) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (4) Overview (1) 27 September 1947 , Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK Mini Bio (1) Barbara Dickson was born on September 27, 1947 in Dunfermline, Scotland, the daughter of a policeman turned Rosyth dockyard worker.

Barbara's mother was a housewife, and the family's strong interest in music led to Barbara taking up the piano from the tender age of five. By the age of twelve Barbara had also started to learn to play the guitar and upon leaving school at seventeen, she moved to Edinburgh combining a job in the Registrar General's office with evening spots as a folk singer in local pubs and clubs. When Barbara was offered a short-term contract singing at a club in Copenhagen, she was refused time away from her day job, and she resigned, deciding to try her luck as a professional singer. The mid-to late '60s saw Barbara "paying her dues" as a respected singer on the Scottish folk club circuit, enjoying some success, particularly with Archie Fisher and Rab Noakes. She cut three albums for Decca Records in the early 1970s, which were well-received but Barbara began to become disillusioned with the fading Scottish folk scene of the time, and on the advice of Hamish Imlach and Christy Moore she began to concentrate on the booming folk scene of the North of England.

Fate intervened one evening late in 1972 when Bernard Theobald attended one of Barbara's shows in Wolverhampton and offered to become her manager. So began a successful partnership which has endured thirty years. Around this time Barbara also became acquainted with Willy Russell , who managed a folk club in Runcorn and was himself touring the folk circuit with his group The Kirkby Town Three. The friendship led to Barbara being offered a major role in Willy's musical 'John Paul George Ringo...& Bert', which was to be staged by Liverpool's Everyman Theatre. Barbara was on stage throughout the entire show, singing The Beatles' songs at the piano, and the show became an instant success, quickly transferring to London's West End. Here the show was seen by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice , who invited Barbara to sing on the studio cast recording of their new musical 'Evita' - the subsequent single, 'Another Suitcase In Another Hall', released early in 1977, became a huge hit. Barbara signed a deal with RSO Records, and in 1976 enjoyed her first commercial success, ahead of 'Another Suitcase...', with the single 'Answer Me'.

1977 saw Barbara in Nashville recording the 'Morning Comes Quickly' album, but by 1978 she had signed to CBS/Epic Records and TV exposure in shows such as The Two Ronnies (1971) began her breakthrough to a much wider audience. 1980's 'January, February' proved Barbara's biggest hit to date, and the accompanying LP, 'The Barbara Dickson Album' went gold in the UK. 1982's phenomenally successful "All For A Song" collection cemented Barbara's status as a major recording artist. In 1983 Barbara accepted the lead role of Mrs. Johnstone in a new Willy Russell musical, 'Blood Brothers', which again opened in Liverpool. The show, which provided Barbara with her first major acting role, earned her rave reviews, a West End transfer and the first of many 'Best Actress' awards from the Society Of West End Theatres. Barbara was also firmly establishing herself as a must-see concert artist, with lengthy sold-out concert tours which took her to every major town and city within the UK, culminating in shows at London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall.

Barbara's 1986 duet with Elaine Paige , 'I Know Him So Well', from the musical 'Chess', reached number one in the UK singles' chart, clocking up sales of over 900,000 copies, and the 'Gold' album for K-Tel the same year achieved platinum status. By 1987, tiring of record company politics, Barbara and Bernard decided to release future singles and albums through their own label, beginning with the live 'After Dark' album. The early 1990s saw Barbara rethinking her career, and she began to move more towards her folk roots with 1992's "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" and 1994's "Parcel Of Rogues". Away from the pop treadmill, she diversified into acting more and more with parts on radio and television, including a guest role in STV's popular 'Taggart' series.

In 1995 Barbara accepted the role of Anita Braithwaite in Kay Mellor's gritty _"Band of Gold" (1995) (mini)_, about the lives of a group of Bradford prostitutes - the role won her great acclaim and the show went on to run for three series. Other TV and stage work, including the award-winning "7 Ages Of Woman", were combined with recording and concert work and in 1999 Barbara scored another huge success on the London stage with the lead role of Viv Nicholson in the new musical 'Spend, Spend, Spend'. The show won her Best Actress in a Musical at the Laurence Olivier and Critics' Circle Awards that year, and Barbara was honoured by the Queen with an OBE in the New Years' Honours the same year. 2002 saw Barbara releasing her double CD, 'For The Record', combining live tracks with greatest hits, and a highly-successful accompanying UK tour. And with plans for a new album, further concerts, and her first movie role recently under her belt, Barbara shows no signs of slowing down!

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Alan Clyde Spouse (1) Barbara Dickson: I am a natural Roman Catholic - BBC News BBC News Barbara Dickson: I am a natural Roman Catholic 22 March 2014 Close share panel Image copyright Brian April Image caption Barbara Dickson was brought up in Dunfermline and became a hit on the folk circuit in the 1960s Scottish singing star Barbara Dickson has told BBC Scotland she is a "natural Catholic" despite being brought up in the Church of Scotland. The 66-year-old singer, whose hits include "I know him so well" and "January, February", said she loved the tradition of the mass and the liturgy of Roman Catholic worship. Dickson, who grew up in Dunfermline in Fife, said: "I don't really have anything to do with the Reformation." Perhaps surprisingly the folk singer who found fame in Willy Russell musicals such as John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert and Blood Brothers, told Sunday Morning with Cathy Macdonald , she did not think guitars and microphones had any place in a church and preferred traditional music. Dickson said she had always had God in her life.

She said: "If people don't have that they scratch their heads and say how could people believe that? Or how could people do that? And how could people go to church?" Dickson, who now lives in Lincolnshire, says no-one has the time to contemplate bigger thoughts these days. Image caption Barbara (far right) was a judge on the BBC's Young Chorister of the Year competition She says: "In Lincolnshire they say nobody leans over the gate anymore, you know, just having a look at what the countryside is offering. "None of us have time to do that anymore, I suppose a walk in the Botanics is the nearest we'd get to it." She says went to Sunday school in the Church of Scotland but was attracted to the traditions of the Catholic church. "For me, I am a natural Roman Catholic. It's the continuity from St Paul to me that I like. I love the liturgy, I love the mass, I love the mystery, I love the transubstantiation, it's extremely powerful for me. "I want to hear traditional church music, because to me it adds to the spirituality. I don't really want to be in a community centre.

I want to take part in something that is truly profound." Barbara was born in Dunfermline in 1947, into what she says was a working class family on a housing scheme. She says: "I'm very proud of my background indeed, and my brother is a sculptor and I am a musician." She wanted to be a teacher but failed her 11-plus exam, which she describes as a traumatic experience. Image caption Barbara (right) had a big hit with Elaine Paige when they released I know him so well, in 1985 "It was absolutely horrendous and actually I still get feelings in my stomach about this now, the terrible humiliation of failing my 11-plus. "I think when that happened to me it was always like fate. "I said to myself 'right, I'm never going to get anywhere with my brains, I'm going to have to do something that makes me stand out in a different way'." But despite her educational setbacks she has always had confidence in her singing ability. She says: "If anyone said to me that I couldn't sing I'd punch their lights out.

Because it's not true, and I could never be convinced of my musical ability not being sound." Barbara found success on the folk club circuit in the late 1960s but it was her meeting with Liverpudlian playwright Willy Russell that changed the course of her career. She appeared in his first hit musical John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert and her performance led to a recording contract and hit records, as well as providing backing vocals for Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty on his worldwide hit albums City to City and and Night Owl. Image caption Barbara with Mike Harding at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2011 She says Rafferty, who died three years ago, influenced her "enormously" as a musician. "I listened to his songs as a young woman and heard him first in the Scotia bar in Glasgow," she says. "I couldn't believe the sensitivity of his voice, the fragility of him. And actually, without being too overly emotional, there was a great fragility in his character as well, and in his personality.

And it took me a while to stop sort of shouting into the sky when he died." In the early 1980s Russell invited Barbara to star in his new musical Blood Brothers, a role which won her a string of awards and which she has reprised on many occasions since. She says she found the intensity of Blood Brothers "incredibly tiring and draining". "At one point I keeled over, I felt most peculiar, and then in London I had to go off for about two weeks because I just sort of collapsed," she says. "I suppose it was possibly like a kind of a little breakdown. "It was all to do with pressure, it was all to do with being above the title, you know, 'Barbara Dickson in Blood Brothers', but nobody is invincible, but that's the thing I couldn't accept at that time'." Looking back she says that the level of fame she had at the height of her career was "not very pleasant". "I didn't enjoy that.

I look at people like Madonna and Lady Gaga, really incredibly powerful, in control of their lives, I do not envy that at all because I've had a little of that." This interview will be broadcast on Sunday 23 March at 07:06 on Sunday Morning With Cathy Macdonald . Barbara Dickson - Music on Google Play Barbara Dickson About the artist Barbara Ruth Dickson, OBE is a Scottish singer whose hits include "I Know Him So Well", "Answer Me" and "January February". Dickson has placed fifteen albums in the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a number of hit singles, including four which reached the Top 20 in the UK Singles Chart. The Scotsman newspaper has described her as Scotland's best-selling female singer in terms of the numbers of hit chart singles and albums she has achieved in the UK since 1976. She is also a two-time Olivier Award-winning actress, with roles including Viv Nicholson in the musical Spend Spend Spend, and she was the original Mrs. Johnston in Willy Russell's long-running musical Blood Brothers. On TV she starred as Anita Braithwaite in Band of Gold.

$9.49 Full Circle is an album by Barbara Dickson. Full Circle was Barbara Dickson's 2004 studio album which, as the title suggests, saw her returning to her first love - folk music. The album also marked... 1 Elaine Paige 0 Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first profes... 0 Elkie Brooks 0 Elkie Brooks is an English singer, a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980s and has been nominated twice f... 0 Marti Webb 0 Margaret A. "Marti" Webb is an English actress and singer, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980. This included her big... 0 Michael Ball 0 Michael Ashley Ball, OBE is an English actor, singer and broadcaster, who is known for his work in musical theatre.

He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius in the original London producti... 0 Matt Monro 0 Matt Monro, known as The Man with the Golden Voice, was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his... 0 G4 0 G4 are a four-piece British vocal troupe who first came to prominence when they finished second in Series 1 of The X Factor in 2004, and are known for their operatic delivery of modern pop songs. O... 0 Russell Watson 0 Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known... 0 Val Doonican 0 Michael Valentine "Val" Doonican was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening, and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed style. A crooner, he found popular success, especi... 0 Charlie Landsborough 0 Charlie Landsborough, is a British country and folk musician and singer-songwriter.

He started singing professionally in the 1970s, although his major success didn't come until 1994 with his song "... 0 Barbara Dickson - Example Problems Barbara Dickson Jump to: navigation , search Barbara Dickson is a Scottish actress and singer , known for her work on stage ( Blood Brothers ) and television (Band of Gold). Barbara Dickson was born in Dunfermline on September 27 , 1947 . In 1964 she started singing and playing guitar in local folk clubs and soon afterwords took up work at the Registrar General's Office in Edinburgh. Her first commercial recording was in 1967. She recorded an album with Archie Fisher "The Fate O' Charlie" in 1969 and started gigging in the north of England. Her first solo album was "Do Right Woman" in 1970. she became a professional folk singer in 1973 but after a year she had a big break as the part of the singer and pianist in Willy Russell 's play "John Paul George Ringo ... and Bert".

In 1975 her career took a further boost for her rendition of the role of the Discarded Mistress on the original album version of Evita . Her version of "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" was a UK hit in March 1977, reaching its peak of Number 18 exactly 20 years before the Madonna version made Number 7, although she had earlier reached Number 9 with a version of the 1950s hit "Answer Me" in January 1976, and climbed to Number 11 with "January February" (confusingly enough in April 1980). She went on to score a 1985 UK #1 hit with a duet, ' I Know Him So Well ' from Chess , with Elaine Paige . Despire her well-publicised image as a powerful pop-ballad singer, every decade or so she has recorded an album of traditional folk songs. Barbara Dickson - Words Unspoken Barbara Dickson - Words Unspoken ï¿½9.74 USA & Rest Of World IN STOCK This title is a Music Scotland All Time Bestseller .

(February 2011) 12 tracks (52 mins): The Magical West * Jamie Raeburn * Ythanside * The Trees They Do Grow High * Will Ye Gang Love? * Smile In Your Sleep * My Donald * Personent Hodie * Kishmul's Galley * Ca' The Yowes * King Orfeo * Bridge Over Troubled Water. A multi-million selling singer with an impressive acting career, Barbara Dickson OBE is one of Scotland's most enduring and popular entertainers. With numerous awards for acting and singing, hit singles, gold and platinum albums, Barbara is no stranger to success. In a return to her roots, this album features a collection of mainly traditional songs. Originally from Dunfermline, Barbara 'paid her dues' on the Scottish folk scene during the 1960s and 70s, working with the likes of Archie Fisher, Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty and Rab Noakes.

A successful stage appearance in a musical by Willy Russell in 1974, followed by her first hit single Answer Me, led to her big break - a guest residency on the BBC comedy show The Two Ronnies, which drew in Saturday night audiences in excess of 15 million viewers. More hit singles followed - Another Suitcase In Another Hall, Caravan Song, January February - and her 1982 compilation album All For A Song went platinum in the UK. In 1985 her duet with Elaine Paige, I Know Him So Well (from the musical Chess) went on to become a Top 10 hit around the world. In the 1990s, Barbara began to move away from the pop scene and back towards acoustic and folk music. This resulted in the 1992 album Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - a selection of Bob Dylan songs - and 1994's Parcel Of Rogues, featuring folk music from the British Isles. 1995 saw the release of Dark End Of The Street, which combined traditional music with songs by favourite songwriters. In 2004 Barbara released her first studio album for eight years, Full Circle.

Produced by Troy Donockley, it was widely acclaimed as a long-awaited return to her musical roots. Her next CD, Time And Tide, was released in 2008 and showcased her new direction, blending together old and new songs with a distinctive atmosphere prevailing throughout. Words Unspoken includes another Barbara and Troy song-writing collaboration - The Magical West - which opens the album, and it ends with the Paul Simon classic Bridge Over Trouble Water. In between, Barbara interprets traditional songs with sensitivity and confidence. Smile In Your Sleep, written by Jim McLean, and My Donald, by the late Owen Hand, completes a formidable album, with artist and producer in total harmony. Produced by Troy Donockley (guitars, uilleann pipes, whistle, bouzouki, keyboards, percussion, vocals) with musicians Brad Lang (bass, vocals), Frank Van Essen (violin, viola, drums), Andy Dinan (fiddle), Lucy Muir (harp) and Nick Holland (vocals). "It is no exaggeration to describe Barbara as a great singer. She stood out a mile among folk singers of her generation and she has consistently shown her class when performing for a wider public.

This is Dickson at her most engaging..." (Daily Telegraph, on Full Circle) See playlists for Barbara's BBC Radio Scotland programme Scotland On Song . Search Music Scotland Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson : I Know Him So Well (Rare) HQ - YouTube Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson : I Know Him So Well (Rare) HQ Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Jul 20, 2010 Wonderful song from the musical Chess performed on German TV Swedish version here with Benny Andersson It was written by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson along with Tim Rice. "I Know Him So Well" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess. In this duet, two women -- Svetlana, the Russian chess champion's estranged wife, and Florence, his mistress -- express their bittersweet feelings for him and at seeing their relationships fall apart.

The duet was number one in the UK for four weeks in 1985 when released as a single by Elaine Paige (as Florence) and Barbara Dickson (as Svetlana), who laid down their vocals separately and never met during the recording of the song, only for the video and subsequent performances on Top of the Pops and the European tours.] This recording remains in the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest selling UK Chart single ever by a female duo.

Paige also appeared in the original London stage production of Chess.- wikipedia I KNOW HIM SO WELL (Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Tim Rice) Duet with Elaine Paige - from the Musical 'Chess' Nothing is so good it lasts eternally Perfect situations must go wrong But this has never yet prevented me Wanting far too much for far too long Looking back I could have played it differently Won a few more moments, who can tell But it took time to understand the man Now at least I know I know him well Wasn't it good, But in the end he needs a little bit more than me More security He needs his fantasy and freedom I know him so well No one in your life is with you constantly No one is completely on your side And though I move my world to be with him Still the gap between us is too wide Looking back I could have played it differently (Looking back I could have played things some other way) Learned about the man before I fell (I was just a little careless maybe) But I was ever so much younger then (Much younger then) Now at least I know him well Now at least I know I know him well Wasn't it good Barbara Dickson Biography | OLDIES.com Barbara Dickson

 Biography Overview Biography Songs Similar Artists DVDs CDs 27 September 1947, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.

Dickson earned her initial reputation during the 60s as part of Scotlands flourishing folk scene. An accomplished singer, she tackled traditional and contemporary material and enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Archie Fisher. In the 70s she encompassed a wider repertoire and became a popular MOR artist in the wake of her contributions to Willy Russells John, Paul, George, Ringo... And Bert, a successful London West End musical. She enjoyed a UK Top 10 single in 1976 with Answer Me, while two later releases, Another Suitcase In Another Hall (1977) and January February (1980), also broached the UK Top 20. In 1983, the Dickson/Russell combination scored again when she won a Laurence Olivier Award for her portrayal of Mrs. Johnstone in his widely applauded musical Blood Brothers. Dickson maintained her popularity through assiduous television and concert appearances and in 1985 had a number 1 hit with I Know Him So Well, a duet with Elaine Paige from the London musical Chess.

Its success confirmed Dickson as one of Britains leading MOR attractions. In 1993, Dickson received renewed critical acclaim when she recreated her original role in current West End revival of Blood Brothers. Two years later she played in cabaret in the Green Room at Londons Cafe Royal, and appeared in two highly rated television dramas, the gritty Band Of Gold (as Anita Braithwaite) and Taggart, as well as several other small screen films. In 1998, she toured her one-woman musical, The 7 Ages Of Woman, and in the following year returned to the West End in the musical as Viv Nicholson in Spend Spend Spend!, for which she won Laurence Olivier and Variety Club Awards for Best Actress. Dicksons acting career is shared with her recording work and she is able to choose her projects. 1995s Dark End Of The Street was a personal selection of songs she wanted to record, most notably her credible interpretations of Dan Penns title track and Boudleaux Bryants Love Hurts. She was made an OBE in the 2002 New Year Honours List for services to music and drama.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze. Filter Results

Question: Which singer had a no 1 hit in 1985 with a duet singing with Barbara Dickson?
Answer: Elaine Paige